MoU - 20260618

The US president has told reporters he signed the MoU with Iran at the Palace of Versailles in the French capital, Paris.

“It’s signed,” Trump said as he left Versailles.

“I signed it in Versailles,” he added. “Just signed it.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says he is honored to announce that the historic “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding” has been electronically signed between the US and Iran

In a post on X, he said, “The Memorandum has been signed by honorable Presidents of both the countries and also endorsed by me as the mediator. The signing of this agreement at the highest level of the respective governments demonstrates the commitment of both sides to a diplomatic resolution of the conflict.”

“Islamabad MoU shall enter into force with immediate effect and as a first step, Islamic Republic of Iran will instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States of America will immediately lift the naval blockade,” he added.

Shehbaz said, “Pakistan with the support of co-mediator State of Qatar will host the official ceremony as scheduled on 19 June 2026 in Switzerland, to commemorate this landmark event and commence with the technical level talks.”

He added, “May this Memorandum of Understanding serve as an enduring foundation for greater understanding, mutual respect and shared prosperity for the complete region.”

The official IRNA news agency has published pictures of the Iranian president signing the interim agreement with the US and holding up pages with his and Trump’s signatures.

“The text of the Memorandum of Understanding to end the imposed war between the US and the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran was signed in the early hours of Thursday, June 18, 1405, by the presidents of Iran and the United States,” the agency reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron has published a video of Trump signing the MoU at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.

“President Trump signed tonight at Versailles the agreement between Iran and the United States,” he wrote on X.

“This agreement paves the way for lasting peace and allows the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It is an important step in the right direction for our compatriots that will soon enable a decrease in energy prices.”

Trump has encouraged Netanyahu to use a “softer touch” in Lebanon.

Israeli air strikes have continued in southern Lebanon, despite a new agreement between the US and Iran to end the war on all fronts.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, says Tehran is engaging diplomatically with the US from a position of strength.

In an interview with Iran’s Press TV, Ghalibaf, who also serves as speaker of parliament, said that Iran’s “battlefield victory” had provided the backdrop to the talks.

“The difference between the current negotiations and previous periods is that today, this banner of battlefield victory, which both enemies and friends have acknowledged, serves as the backing for negotiations,” Ghalibaf said.

He added that it was important for Iran’s military gains to be translated into a lasting settlement that serves the country’s interests.

“Every war that ends in victory, if it does not ultimately lead to a legal and political document, and those victories are not recorded, will bring no benefit.”

Kenneth Katzman, senior fellow at The Soufan Center, says the negotiations between Iran and the US on Tehran’s nuclear program are “probably going to go [for] more than 60 days”.

“[Former President Joe] Biden negotiated with Iran, and did not reach an accord. Mr Trump has negotiated, and did not reach an accord till now,” Katzman explained.

“These negotiations on nuclear issues are very detailed, very exhaustive, and it’s probably going to take more time than just 60 days.”

Katzman said several issues will need to be hashed out by technical experts.

“Certainly the US focus is going to be the nuclear commitments. That is how Mr Trump justified the conflict. He has said the MoU accomplishes the US objectives of making sure Iran has no pathway to a nuclear weapon. And the US negotiators are going to try to put that in writing, in terms that can be understood by technical experts who know about how to make a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“So we’re talking about suspending uranium enrichment, we’re talking about stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, other enriched uranium verification inspections,” he added.

Iran’s Press TV reports that 11 Iranian ships have sailed through the US naval blockade since Tehran and Washington finalised the text of the MoU on Sunday.

Citing an informed source, the outlet reported that eight vessels sailed from Iran’s territorial waters to international waters, while three entered Iranian waters.

As we’ve been reporting, the MoU calls for the US to end its blockade and for Iran to allow toll-free transit in the Strait of Hormuz for at least 60 days.

Trump says it’s “unfair” for Iran to lack ballistic missiles if other regional countries have them.

Trump made the comments at the G7 summit in France, where the US-Iran deal has taken centre stage.

Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has addressed Iranian media following the signing of the MoU:

• Baghaei said Iran will monitor the US’s compliance “without any leniency” and will not “fulfil” its commitments if Washington “evades its obligations”.
• Iran’s nuclear program and the lifting of US sanctions will be discussed during the 60-day period, but Tehran’s missile program is off the table. “Iran’s missiles are only for firing, not for negotiation. Iran’s defense capabilities will not be discussed in any process with any party,” he said.
• On Lebanon, Baghaei said Iran has shown it “does not abandon its friends” and that it was the US’s responsibility to compel Israel to respect commitments to Iran.
• Baghaei said Iran would not ship its stockpile of highly enriched uranium abroad and that dilution of the material was “introduced as an option to close the door on other possibilities”.
• On the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei said Iran will finalize a new regime to manage the waterway along with Oman and will “charge fees for services” there.

US Republican Senator Roger Marshall has praised the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US.

In a post on X, Marshall described it as a “winning deal” and said it was better than the agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew the US in 2018.

Marshall said that any final deal on Iran’s nuclear programme would be backed by a UN Security Council resolution, and that support from Arab nations for the agreement was a diplomatic win.

The praise from the Kansas lawmaker came amid a backlash to the deal among Trump’s Republican Party, as well as in Israel.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding to end the war between the two countries.

Negotiating teams are expected in Geneva to further the agreement on Friday.

Joe Kent, who resigned as director of the US National Counterterrorism Center in March in protest against the US-Israel war on Iran, has welcomed the official signing of the memorandum of understanding by Washington and Tehran.

In a post on X, Kent said it was “very good” that Trump was ending the war.

“I pray the peace holds,” he said, adding that “restraining Israel & focusing on stability in the region will be critical to ensure it lasts”.

Kent has been a vocal critic of the war and said in his resignation letter that Netanyahu “deceived” Trump into attacking Iran.

Rami Khouri, distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, says a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon remains a long way off.

US and Iranian negotiators will likely need four to five months, well beyond their 60-day timeline, to finalize their deal, he said. They will then have to “work out other regional and global dynamics” to allow all parties to “calm down and work out a way that they can all live together with their total rights guaranteed”.

“So it’s going to take a while. But my guess is that the Israelis will at some point very soon stop attacking militarily. They will pull out, symbolically, of a few areas here and there in south Lebanon. And they will claim, as they always have, that they have to defend themselves in south Lebanon, and everywhere else where they feel they’re being attacked,” he said.

“This is going to go on for some time until the United States forces Israel,” Khouri added. “The United States is the only power that can force Israel to change its policy. That hasn’t happened yet.”

Video footage of the moment the US president signed the interim deal at the Versailles Palace shows him pausing before putting pen to paper.

“This was not easy,” he told his audience, holding out his hands. “I can tell you that,” he added as he signed the first page.

More from Khouri at the American University of Beirut.

The analyst said although an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon remains a long way off, the US will ultimately force Israel’s hand.

That’s because Trump – despite his bellicose warnings of bombing Iran again – is taking “practical steps that are more conciliatory, more rational, more strategic, more legal-based”.

The reason, Khouri argued, is that Trump “understands that the Iranians are serious and able people”, and that the US and Israel “have never faced anything like” the resistance mounted by Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the “90 percent of people in the Arab and Islamic world who support them”.

He added that Trump was pushed into the war by the “excessive militaristic zeal” of Zionists and Israelis, but now “realizes it was a mistake” and is trying to find a way out.

“I believe that the US ultimately will triumph in this and Israel will be contained in some way,” Khouri said, “but it’s not going to happen quickly.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appears to have deleted his initial post on X announcing that the US and Iranian presidents had signed the historic MoU.

In the updated version, the prime minister has omitted any reference to an upcoming official signing ceremony.

As we’ve been reporting, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that because the document has been signed digitally, there will be no physical signing ceremony in Switzerland.

He said that negotiating teams would still gather in Geneva on Friday for the follow-up negotiations.

Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says diplomacy has delivered results that military action has not and suggested Israel’s strike on Beirut meant to derail the “peace deal” sparked Trump into action.

Yossi Mekelberg, senior consulting fellow of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, says Israel’s role in the upcoming negotiations with Iran will be dictated by Washington.

Referring to Trump’s earlier comments describing Netanyahu as “an amazing prime minister” and playing down their differences over Lebanon, Mekelberg said Trump had “got a bit soft on Netanyahu”, despite what had been “real disputes between them about how to continue the war”.

He said a debate will now begin in Israel about what the country has achieved ahead of its upcoming election season.

“Everyone will look at the last two and a half years and what Israel actually achieved by using almost maximum force on so many fronts without a decisive result,” he said. “The result was decided without Israel being involved in the negotiation and the memorandum of understanding. And in the 60 days of negotiation ahead, we have no idea how much Israel will be involved. Basically, it will be dictated to it by the Trump administration.”

The mood in Israel, across both the government and opposition, was that the war “was a failure”, he added. Not only has Israel been “sidelined”, but none of Netanyahu’s stated war objectives – regime change in Iran, ending its nuclear program, cutting off support for armed groups, and reducing its ballistic missile capability – has been achieved.

The United Nations says its UNIFIL peacekeepers have observed continued “extensive” Israeli military activity in southern Lebanon despite a “reduction in the intensity of hostilities in the area of operations”.

“This includes high-density armored movements, large-scale engineering and demolition works, and sustained logistical traffic across the area,” the UN secretary-general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

On Wednesday, between midnight and 4pm local time, UNIFIL recorded 26 Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace along with one air attack. The UN forces also reported a violation of “Lebanon’s maritime space by two [Israeli military] vessels conducting a patrol roughly 600 meters off the shores of Naqoura in southern Lebanon”.

Iran’s Abbas Araghchi and Italy’s Antonio Tajani have discussed the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Tehran and Washington in a telephone call, according to Araghchi’s Telegram channel.

The ministers agreed on the importance of maintaining regional stability and security, and emphasised the opportunity created by the deal to consolidate peace, a statement on the channel said.

The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs says talks ⁠between ⁠the US and Iran will go ahead at ⁠the Swiss mountaintop resort of Buergenstock tomorrow.

“As things stand, the plan is still for the US and Iran, along with ⁠mediators Pakistan and ⁠Qatar and other involved countries, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock ⁠for initial negotiations about implementing ⁠the agreement,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.

It provided no further information on the schedule or details of the meeting, the news agency added.

The report came after Iran said an in-person meeting for the signing of the MoU would not take place in Switzerland, following the signing by Trump and Pezeshkian.

Top Democratic lawmakers on three House committees have requested an immediate briefing and the full text of the memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran, according to a letter addressed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Representatives Gregory Meeks, Jim Himes and Adam Smith asked the administration to provide Congress with the MoU, any associated side agreements or implementing arrangements, and detailed information regarding its strategy for negotiating and implementing any future agreement with Iran.

The legislators said the administration had left Congress and the American people in the dark for more than 15 weeks about a “war of choice” that has proved to be a “strategic failure”. They noted that 14 service members have been killed, hundreds wounded, critical US assets damaged, munition stockpiles depleted, and global food and oil prices have surged due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“While we welcome the Administration’s turn toward diplomacy and its decision to end this war of choice, the Administration must provide Congress with greater details about the MoU,” the letter said, adding that the administration had “repeatedly contradicted itself”.

The letter also posed questions about Iran’s nuclear program, the 60-day negotiations window, enforcement mechanisms, the situation in Lebanon, Iran’s ballistic missile programme and proxies, and sanctions relief and payment, including a reported $300bn “reconstruction fund”.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said Germany is ⁠deploying ⁠two ships to the Red Sea to prepare for a potential mine-clearing mission in the Strait ⁠of Hormuz.

Speaking as ⁠he arrived for a ⁠NATO meeting in Brussels, Pistorius said: “As we speak, our minesweeper ‌Fulda and the supply ship Mosel are sailing through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea.”

Pistorius said approval would ⁠be needed from Iran and ⁠Oman before any participation ⁠in a minesweeping operation, and added any mission would also depend ‌on developments in further talks between Iran and ‌the ‌US.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has discussed the US-Iran MoU with his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, in a phone call, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.

“Anand commended Pakistan’s constructive role in supporting diplomatic engagement and mediation efforts between the United States and Iran, which helped facilitate the understanding reached between the two parties,” the ministry said.

“They also discussed the forthcoming engagement between the parties in Burgenstock, Switzerland on Friday,” the ministry said, adding that the sides reaffirmed their commitment to “expanding cooperation across areas of mutual interest”.

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has welcomed the interim US-Iran agreement, with the UN nuclear watchdog set to work out a clear action plan.

“It is good that the ⁠memorandum is there. ⁠Now the technical work starts,” Rafael Grossi was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

It is time for the IAEA to sit down with US and Iranian officials to begin formulating concrete steps on handling Tehran’s nuclear program.

Amichai Chikli, a minister in the far-right government, says he doubts Israel will withdraw troops to the “Blue Line” – the UN-marked unofficial boundary separating Israel and Lebanon – even it faces pressure to do so from the US.

“If we return to the Blue Line it will be a failure,” Chikli was quoted by Israel’s Army Radio as saying. “I don’t think we’re going to withdraw. If necessary, we’ll know how to say no to the United States.”

Tension is rising between the United States and Israel after President Trump publicly scolded Prime Minister Netanyahu for his handling of Israel’s war on Lebanon and the killing of “too many people”.

Iran has insisted that any long-term deal must include the end of Israel’s occupation of the south.

Even though Iran’s new leadership is younger and more hard line, it’s unlikely to violate the interim agreement with the US and return to fighting, a military analyst says.

“Iran has got a very good deal” despite its “appalling behavior across the region for several decades”, Simon Mayall, a retired British general says.

“It certainly got more than most of us expected at the outset of the campaign against Iran,” he said.

There is “plenty of scope for problems” over the next 60 days of negotiations, but Iran is unlikely to break the deal with the US because it has no appetite to return to the conflict, Mayall said.

“There’s been a change of regime up to a certain point just in terms of who now is individually running the country, a new level of leadership, so a younger generation may be more hard line,” he added.

“There’s been an awful lot of damage done by the kinetic actions of the Israelis and particularly the Americans, so we are in a different place.

The foreign ministry says China welcomes the signing of the interim US-Iran agreement, and hopes both countries will approach their upcoming negotiations “rationally and pragmatically”. ⁠

Speaking at a press briefing, spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing also hopes both parties will meet their commitments under the deal.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf highlighted the importance of developing relations with China and the necessity of focusing on solving the economic problems of its people.

“China is definitely unique to us. It is we who China must believe – and it will believe – that we are not just a customer or a trading partner, rather we are truly a partner with China in every sense of the word,” Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.

Supertankers with six million barrels of crude on board have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data reported by the Reuters news agency.

The sailings from Saudi ports were the largest departures through the strait in weeks, the agency said.

The movement of supertankers came hours after President Trump signed a deal with Iran to end the conflict.

Saudi Arabia has mainly used its Red Sea port terminal of Yanbu to ship oil due to the war, which has disrupted hundreds of millions of barrels of oil from leaving the Gulf region through Hormuz.

Mostafa Koschcheshm, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, says the US-Iran deal will fall apart if Washington does not follow through on its commitment to contain Israel in Lebanon.

Top Iranian officials have made it clear that if the ceasefire’s terms are violated – including with continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon – then Tehran will retaliate and strike Israel, Koschcheshm says.

“So it now depends on how the US is going to control the Israeli attacks,” he said.

This state of affairs is difficult for Israel to accept and is intensifying “cracks” in Israel’s government, he said, adding that Iran is now “dictating the terms and the new order in the Middle East”.

Koschcheshm said Israel may “do its best” to “disturb” the US-Iran deal, so “everything depends on Trump and how loyal he is to his words and the text he signed”.

Russia is the latest state to welcome the signing of the US-Iran MoU.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it is “imperative” that all parties “strictly adhere” to the understandings reached, including in Lebanon.

Moscow is ready to contribute to diplomatic efforts to help create sustainable, long-term stability in the Middle East, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

US President Donald Trump has pushed back against criticism that he failed to take a hard enough line on Iran, pointing to record stock market gains and falling oil prices as evidence his approach is working.

“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The post comes amid criticism from some US policymakers who questioned whether the memorandum of understanding reached with Tehran represents a sufficient win for Washington

International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol has welcomed the US-Iran deal and called for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened without conditions.

Birol noted that several countries are reviewing their energy policies as it’s clear the waterway could potentially be shut again given Iran closed it during the US-Israeli war.

The IEA will discuss new strategies with several nations as the crisis has redrawn the global energy map, Birol said at an event in Istanbul, adding that “trust” is critical in global energy markets.

The agreement includes Tehran reopening the key strait and the US lifting its naval blockade of Iran, potentially bringing an end to the largest oil supply disruption in history.

“We will now see the details of the agreement and the negotiation process, and what happens next. The vase is broken. Now all actors know that the Strait of Hormuz was closed once and it can be shut down again.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Constantinos Kombos, his Cypriot counterpart, exchanged views on the deal signed by Tehran and Washington in a phone call.

The ministers expressed hope the agreement marked the beginning of a new chapter in Iran’s relations with other countries, and would pave the way for the expansion of economic ties, according to a statement on Araghchi’s Telegram channel.

Kombos, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, described the deal as an important step towards strengthening regional stability, while expanding cooperation between European countries and Iran.

Israel’s military has released a map showing what it says are the current positions of its forces inside southern Lebanon, extending about 10km (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory.

Soldiers “are stationed in the designated area of operation in southern Lebanon and will continue to remove threats”, a statement said.

As we’ve reported, the 14-point deal signed by the US and Iran declares “the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US will be ready to resume military action and reimpose a blockade if Iran fails to meet its commitments under the US-Iran deal.

“The president has pointed out that we will be prepared to recommence if underneath the timeline of these ⁠talks Iran does not ⁠do what it says it’s going to do,” Hegseth ⁠said in Brussels after meeting NATO ⁠defence ministers.

“If Iran ⁠doesn’t comply then we’re more than able to reimpose an ‌ironclad blockade,” he added.

Israel is conducting “stubborn negotiations” with the United States over the continued deployment of its troops in southern Lebanon.

An unnamed senior official “close” to Prime Minister Netanyahu told Reuters news agency Israel has no intention of backing down on its position regarding its occupation.

In separate comments, two Israeli politicians offered sharp critiques of the government’s approach to Iran.

Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister, said Iran retains its nuclear capabilities in part because of poor decision-making by Israel.

“Unfortunately, Iran has held onto its nuclear capabilities because of our own strategic miscalculations, and that is a serious danger,” Gallant said. “This deal has left us in a very bad position. Israel’s strategic goal was solely to halt the nuclear programme, and within that framework we have squandered opportunities that won’t come around again for a generation or two.”

Moshe Saada, a lawmaker from Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, urged the prime minister to take a harder line with the US over Lebanon.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to tell Trump ‘enough’,” Saada said. “I am bound to defend Israelis, and withdrawing from Lebanon right now poses an existential threat to Israel. Duty demands that we strike Lebanon everywhere, around the clock, with maximum force and with no proportionality.”

Switzerland has welcomed the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, calling it “an important step toward de-escalation in the region”.

The Foreign Ministry said the plan remains for both sides – “along with the mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other involved countries” – to meet at the Burgenstock resort on Friday for initial negotiations on the deal’s implementation.

“No further information can be provided at this time regarding the agenda and details of this meeting,” the ministry said in a statement.

Mostafa Koshcheshm, a professor at the University of Tehran, says reported figures of $100bn to $120bn of Iran’s money being frozen around the world are greatly exaggerated.

“It’s not $100bn actually. Iran has been working out ways to bypass the frozen assets and to bypass the US rules for our banks,” Koshcheshm says.

“You could see in the MoU, it’s no more than $24bn. Iran has worked out banking and Swift and swap mechanisms with different countries in order to release assets already. So we are talking about just $24bn that is currently frozen.”

Iranian officials will be wary during the upcoming 60-day negotiating period for that money, Koshcheshm added.

“They are distrustful of the United States when it goes into implementation because we have had a long history of deals with the United States – the last one being the JCPOA – where the US defied its obligations and commitments. So Iranians are very much watchful of how the US treats everything,” he said

A French-flagged tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) has passed through the Strait of Hormuz and left the Gulf, according to ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic.

The Mraikh loaded in Ras Laffan, Qatar and is bound for Port Qasim in Pakistan.

President Trump has said the Strait of Hormuz will be fully reopen by Friday.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posts the signed US–Iran agreement on his official account, with a message saying: “Peace will be achieved through mutual respect.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been committed to and persistent in pursuing global peace while preserving its dignity and independence,” he said in the post.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as mediator after US President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian both endorsed the agreement.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is “explicitly the responsibility of the Iranian side under the MoU,” pushing back against any suggestion of outside involvement.

“There is absolutely no need for any intervention by any outsider,” the spokesperson said. “Any such intervention would simply complicate the situation.”

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources have told Al Jazeera that no final decision has yet been made on whether Iran will send a delegation to Switzerland for Friday’s talks at the Burgenstock. Should the trip proceed, the delegation is expected to be headed by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, the sources said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, have discussed the US-Iran deal by phone, says Dar’s office.

“Fidan congratulated Pakistan on the historic signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran and endorsed by Pakistan as the mediator,” a statement said.

“Both leaders expressed hope that this significant development would contribute to lasting peace, stability, and progress in the region and beyond,” it added.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he has spoken by phone with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to discuss the US-Iran MoU and other regional developments.

In a post on Telegram, Araghchi said Iran hopes the agreement will help restore peace and stability in the region, and stressed the need to engage in dialogue with Gulf countries to “resolve existing ambiguities”.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke by phone with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty with the US-Iran deal topping the agenda.

Doha’s Foreign Ministry said the call also covered bilateral relations and the latest developments on the agreement reached between Washington and Tehran.

Sheikh Mohammed reaffirmed Doha’s support for efforts to reach “sustainable solutions to outstanding issues through dialogue and peaceful means, in line with the principles of international law,” the ministry said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian says the memorandum of understanding agreed on by Washington and Tehran “reflects the voice of a nation that did not trade its dignity and independence for any threat or pressure”.

In a second post on X he shared the signed agreement. “What was recorded today was the result of national resilience, political rationality, and responsible diplomacy.”

The US and Iran met in Pakistan in April for the first direct talks between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.

The MoU states in its second paragraph that the US and Iran will “undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed the US-Iran agreement brokered by Pakistan.

Moscow views the deal as a step towards permanently halting the conflict and could serve as a model for future peace agreements, said Putin.

Speaking at the Russia-ASEAN summit in the Russian city of Kazan, he said stabilisation in the Middle East would be beneficial for global energy markets.

Qatar has welcomed the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, describing it as confirmation of their willingness to resolve differences through negotiation.

The deal, which covers the cessation of hostilities and ensures freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, represents “a solid foundation for advancing to the next stage of negotiations”, the Foreign Ministry said.

It called on all parties to “maintain the positive spirit, constructive endeavors, and joint coordination to ensure comprehensive and sustainable outcomes”.

Qatar also praised Pakistan’s role in brokering the agreement. The statement comes as the two sides prepare for talks at Burgenstock in Switzerland on Friday, with Qatar among the mediating parties expected to attend.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani spoke by phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, with the US-Iran agreement the central topic of discussion.

Doha’s Foreign Ministry said the two leaders reviewed bilateral relations and discussed regional developments following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

Both energy-rich Gulf countries have pushed for a deal for months between Iran and the US to halt hostilities as attacks have roiled the region and shut down oil and gas exports crucial to their economies.

Paul Musgrave, a professor at Georgetown University Qatar, says despite reaching an agreement there’s major questions over its implementation.

“Iran is going to be looking for a lot from the United States and from other countries that have sanctioned Iran in cooperation with the United States. This is an incredibly tangled web,” he said.

“There’s also questions about sanctions that can be lifted. Vice President JD Vance has said some of this will be dependent on the performance – whether or not Iran actually lives up to what they’re looking for,” said Musgrave.

Domestically, President Trump is beginning to face a lot of political pressure over the deal, he added.

“The mood on Capitol Hill – if you read news reports – apparently is very grim, very angry about this deal, especially on the Republican side,” said Musgrave.

A major question will be the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds, he added.

“Until last week, he [Trump] was describing Iran as a great threat, a great adversary. But if the president is very much committed to doing a deal, I think the Iranian government is going to insist on this and President Trump might simply have to find a way to bear that political cost and use his authority to release these.”

Oil prices have dropped following the United States and Iran’s signing of an interim peace agreement, resuming a slide interrupted by President Trump’s warning he could restart his military campaign.

Brent crude was down $1.53, or 1.9 percent, at $78.02 a barrel at 13:26 GMT.

After several days of declines, Brent briefly spiked above $81 a barrel on Wednesday after Trump warned the US could “go right back to dropping bombs” on Iran if it doesn’t “behave”.

Whether Israel respects the interim agreement by pulling out of southern Lebanon and stops its attacks depends on how much pressure the US is prepared to exert on its ally, an analyst says.

“We see Trump responding to Iranian pressure. It therefore depends on how much Iran is going to use this as leverage during a negotiation,” Dan Perry, former chief of The Associated Press in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, says.

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Perry said he doubts Israel will pull out “of the buffer zone in southern Lebanon without really having Trump putting the hammer down, as long as Hezbollah remains armed and potentially a threat for a cross-border incursion”.

“From Israel’s perspective, there’s a lot of concern because this is viewed as a capitulation that basically casts aside all of the war goals of Israel and America, both throwing not just Israel under the bus, but also Lebanon, which is aligned with Israel in its desire to see Hezbollah disarmed.”

Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif has postponed a visit to Switzerland for the ceremony, his spokesperson told the AFP news agency.

“The proposed visit has been postponed as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has already been electronically signed, has entered into force, and is now under implementation,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said, adding Pakistan would support the next phase of several “technical-level” tracks.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian have exchanged congratulations on the recent signing of the interim agreement.

In the phone call, Sharif “congratulated President Pezeshkian, the Iranian leadership, and the brotherly people of Iran, on the signing of the historic peace deal”, according to a statement shared by the Pakistani prime minister’s office on social media.

“This landmark deal would not only help restore peace in the region, but also go a long way in rebuilding the Iranian nation and further strengthening Pakistan-Iran ties,” it said.

For his part, Pezeshkian “thanked the prime minister and the Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, for their extremely critical roles in steering the mediation process … that had ensured its success”.

“Iran would always remember Pakistan’s positive and constructive efforts and its support for Iran during these difficult times,” Pezeshkian said.

Kuwait’s ⁠Petroleum ⁠Corporation says all ⁠force majeure notices ⁠issued during the war have been lifted with immediate ‌effect, government communication centre reported on X.

Kuwait’s oil production would increase to two  million barrels per ⁠day within a week coinciding ⁠with the opening ⁠of ⁠Strait of Hormuz and resumption of commercial shipping, ‌KPC added.

US Vice President JD Vance’s press conference in Washington DC on the deal between the US and Iran:

• The US view that the Strait of Hormuz should be free of tolls. Iran effectively closed the waterway during the war.
• The US military has allowed at least 12 ships to pass through its naval blockade of Iran’s ports following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
• As part of the final deal between the US and Iran, Washington expects Tehran will not have missiles that can “broadly threaten the entire world”.
• With respect to Iran’s nuclear programme, Tehran would have to get a lot of money to rebuild that programme.
• The Trump administration would soon brief the US Congress on the Iran deal, the administration is confident that it could temporarily lift sanctions on Tehran without needing congressional approval.
• Part of the goal of Washington’s peace agreement with Iran would be to allow the Lebanese government to police the south of its country, rather than the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
• Israel will have to respect the peace process with Iran, which is good for them. Attacks in Beirut that kill civilians is “not acceptable”.

Hezbollah says it has held off against a four-day offensive by Israeli forces attempting to advance deeper into the country’s south.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it had attacked Israeli troops and tanks with drones, rockets and artillery and prevented their advance towards Kfar Tebnit, near Nabatieh.

“As a result, the enemy was forced to retreat and deploy helicopters under the cover of smoke screens and artillery fire during the night to evacuate its losses,” said Hezbollah.

The White House has provided a copy of the interim US-Iran agreement to Congress, Reuters reported, a day after Trump signed the deal with Iran.

The document, titled “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America”, begins with a declaration of an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The document also confirmed that the US would fully end its naval blockade on Iranian ports within 30 days and Iran would ensure safe passage of commercial vessels at no charge in the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days.

Washington and Tehran have also committed to negotiating a final deal within 60 days and say they can extend the time frame by mutual agreement.

Netanyahu can certainly decide to abide by the interim agreement by pulling troops from southern Lebanon, but this move would be career suicide for him, says Dan Perry, former chief of the Associated Press in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Pulling Israeli troops from the country “would be politically devastating for him from every direction”, Perry said.

“His [right-wing] base doesn’t want this, but even the left doesn’t want it. The centre doesn’t want it, and I would dare say the Israeli Arabs don’t want it,” Perry said from Tel Aviv, adding that it’s possible “parts of Lebanon don’t want it”.

Netanyahu is facing a real “quandary” with elections coming up in a few months, said Perry.

“Capitulation would make him look bad; non-capitulation, if the US is insisting enough, would be impossible at the end of the day.”

The problem, says the veteran journalist, is that Netanyahu has prioritized his relationship with Trump to the detriment of his relations with European allies and US Democrats.

If Netanyahu does decide to pull troops, says Perry, “we’ll have to see then if there’s any mechanism for the Lebanese armed forces to actually take over the border area and prevent Hezbollah from returning and once again threatening Israel”.

The US vice president has excoriated Israeli critics of the agreement, warning that “I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world”.

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Vance said that Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time” and chastised Israeli cabinet members, reminding them that the majority of the country’s defensive weapons were provided through US funding.

“The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in,” Vance said.

Britain’s International Development Minister Jenny Chapman has called on Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon so tens of thousands of people displaced by three months of war can return to their homes.

“Israel should withdraw from southern Lebanon, absolutely. Displacement, we know, anywhere in the world causes huge disruption,” she said while visiting a school where displaced families are sheltering.

“That is why we want to get the conditions right so that people can return home and be secure, be safe, and be confident they can stay in their homes for the long term.”

The US CENTCOM says it has lifted blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said that American forces “are not impeding the transit of vessels to or from Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman”.

CENTCOM added that US naval ships will remain in the region to ensure “all aspects” of the agreement with Iran are adhered to.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says he had “a different opinion” on the US-Iran agreement “but due to the commitment that the honorable President… gave me on behalf of himself and other members in safeguarding the rights of the Iranian nation and the resistance front, and explicitly accepted responsibility for it, I granted permission”.

In a written statement shared by state media, Khamenei added that “if the American side wants to be greedy, they [Iran] will not accept it [the agreement]”.

Iran’s supreme leader has added in a written statement that future face-to-face ‌negotiations with the US would not mean accepting “the enemy’s position”.